\u201cBeing organized isn\u2019t limited to a clean desk.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n In this post, I\u2019m going to share how I\u2019ve managed to create habits that help me and my design team be more organized and collaborate better. And as the Head of Product Design at\u00a0New Haircut<\/a>, the organization goes beyond just my own needs. It\u2019s critical for running a productive and inspired design department, communicating up and across other departments, interacting with external stakeholders, and delivering impactful user experiences.<\/p>\n Managing your design system just got easier<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n But as I\u2019ll cover, being organized isn\u2019t limited to a clean desk. How we prioritize and stay focused is where an organization can have the biggest payoffs to you and those around you.<\/p>\n Everything starts with how we set up the foundation for our products and how we communicate and share our work with our team or client.<\/p>\n Establishing a few basic rules and creating some habits can help you avoid losing files or getting lost in product versions.<\/p>\n What I found useful is to set up simple guidelines for structuring your project folders. Especially when you are part of a team and work on shared projects, try to decide together on a set of rules for all of you to follow.<\/p>\n Sometimes it is very hard to stay consistent as the project unfolds. What helped me, was to create all the folders from the start of the project event if empty, for example:<\/p>\n Project name:<\/strong><\/p>\n Assets:<\/p>\n Website:<\/p>\n Spending this little time upfront to set up the structure of where the project lives will be very valuable as the projects scales.<\/p>\n Tips for keeping order:<\/strong><\/p>\n I know it might be much, but if you maintain the same structure on all your computers, personal folders, and work projects it will help you transform this into a habit.<\/p>\n As designers, we often\u00a0collaborate<\/a>\u00a0with at least one other designer on projects. The most frustrating thing is to get lost in unnamed layers or unclear versions of files.<\/p>\n Decide upon naming and structure guidelines for you and the team to follow while creating your designs, starting with the naming of the files to the naming of layers. A helpful plug-in for renaming layers in Sketch is\u00a0RenameIt<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here are a several of guidelines that will help the design projects be more consistent and easy to understand:<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget about the developers!\u00a0<\/strong>Define all these naming conventions and guidelines together with the developers you work closely with. Using a common language will help you when exporting and sharing assets.<\/p>\n Often we end up getting too absorbed in our activities and we don\u2019t realize that time is passing, so we end up running late and get everything done last minute.<\/p>\n How we perceive and estimate time also impacts our daily productivity and can lead to disorganization.<\/p>\n One way to avoid this is to try to create a schedule for the day based on your tasks. Set up milestones and break big tasks into steps. Write them down in whatever tool you like working with\u2014I usually use\u00a0Trello<\/a>\u00a0or Notes.<\/p>\n Make sure you don\u2019t overdo it and create too many small steps. Sometimes it\u2019s enough to set a simple milestone like: \u201cFinish Task 1 by lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s easier to relate to events then time, but creating a habit to watch the clock from time to time definitely helps.<\/p>\n When I have complex projects that are time sensitive, I use the\u00a0Time Timer<\/a>\u00a0for activities like research,\u00a0mood boards<\/a>, and ideation. It\u2019s not only helping me stay on track but it\u2019s also more productive because it keeps me focused.<\/p>\n How we perceive time definitely impacts how accurately we estimate our projects and tasks.<\/p>\n Keeping track of what you\u2019ve estimated and how long the task actually took will help you estimate better. You can track this by adding this information to your Trello tickets (or other management tools) and compare them at the end of the task.<\/p>\n \u201cBe aware of your habits and always strive for improvement.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n There is no magic behind staying organized, and we all handle it differently. But what I find essential is to be aware of my habits and try to improve.<\/p>\n Spend time to get things in order from the start of a project, then stay organized during it. Try not to get distracted and jump from one task to another, and always ask for help when needed.<\/p>\n![\"Organization](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/blog.invisionapp.com\/uploads\/2018\/05\/organize-design-thumb.jpg?ver=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nStarting with the simple things<\/h2>\n
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Keeping layers and files clean and clear<\/h2>\n
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Time awareness<\/h2>\n
![\"Get](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/blog.invisionapp.com\/uploads\/2018\/05\/organize-design-1.png?ver=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFinal thoughts<\/h2>\n